You Ignite All the Colours Inside of My Heart
by McEvoyer
Summary: Post 4x09. Oliver struggles in the immediate aftermath of the shooting as Felicity is taken into hospital. (Deleted scene where the nurse gives Oliver Felicity's ring).


**Hey guys! It's been forever since I've written anything and I'm so excited to be inspired again! I'm loving what they're doing with Olicity this season! I'm a little rusty but I hope you guys like what you read! :)**

 **Alas, I do not own Arrow.**

* * *

Oliver was numb.

Somewhere, in the deepest caveats of his soul, there was a superficial understanding of what was happening: Felicity had been shot…multiple times, they were in the hospital and the doctors were going to save her.

But it wasn't real.

It couldn't be.

Because a world where Felicity Smoak might not make it couldn't exist.

A world where she didn't babble to the point where she had to pull herself up and scrunch her face in that gorgeous way so she'd stop, or laugh so hard that her glasses slipped dangerously toward the tip of her nose, or smile that smile that she only reserved for him and him alone, or save the day every day in every possible way, couldn't exist.

The world needed her.

 _He_ needed her.

And yet, there she lay. Strapped to a gurney, doctors and surgeons and nurses all yelling, surrounding her, racing down the narrow corridor that looked to be closing in on them, nothing but this weight of a life hanging in the balance to be felt.

He jogged to keep up with them, his body doing the work despite his brain being somewhere else, but they kept pushing him back, saying things that he couldn't process.

But he didn't stop. He needed to be beside her - didn't they know that? He had to be with her. He needed to hold her hand, and tell her that he was there, that she wasn't alone, that he was never leaving and that if he's not leaving then she's not leaving, remember?

Didn't they know that he had to tell her that?

Every now and again he thought he heard her name fall from his lips, but it sounded different. Strangled; desperate.

She needed to hear his voice.

They rushed into a room off the corridor and he followed them, a half-step behind. Though a few tried to obstruct him, he made it through, his breath ragged from the chase. Or maybe it was the shock. Oliver didn't know anymore.

He was shaking. So much so that his vision was blurring and it was hard to keep his eyes open. His hands brushed across his face in attempt to keep him focussed and it was only then he noticed his hands were covered in blood.

 _Felicity's_ blood.

That realization hit him so hard he doubled over, hands on knees, his breath coming in short, thick spurts. At some point he registered a hand on his back, but he stayed glued to the spot, willing himself to _breathe_.

Felicity needed him.

"Mr Queen?" a voice said, calm yet decisive. "Mr Queen I need you to look at me okay?"

After a few long beats Oliver raised his head, his eyes meeting those of a nurse. She was young, probably not long out of school, but looked in control. Something in her stare reassured him and he found himself breathing steadily again.

"You good?" she asked.

He nodded.

Across the room the doctors were in the throes of prep, all working together like a well-oiled machine as his fiancée remained lifeless. A fresh bout of tears pooled in his eyes.

How could this be happening?

"I understand that you want to be in here but we need to get her ready for surgery," the nurse continued, moving her tall frame into the centre of his eyeline so he could do nothing else but look at her. "You can't stay. I'm sorry."

"I need to be with her," he said breathily. "She needs to know I'm here."

"She knows you are."

He swallowed hard. "How can you be sure?"

A sad smile tugged at her lips. "Once she's out of surgery I'll be sure to let you know. I promise."

Confliction stormed through his body, the ache in his heart intensifying with every passing second.

"Please save her," he whispered.

"The surgeons will do everything they can. You have my word on that."

Allowing himself one more look at Felicity, his chest tight, Oliver backed out of the room, wishing that all of this was just some horrible dream that he could wake up from.

* * *

Hours upon hours passed, life going on as normal for most people in Star City but for Oliver it felt like he was stuck in some kind of hellish time loop. He was told the surgery would be lengthy but it was as though lifetimes had gone by and he was still there, left with nothing but the tiniest shred of hope. As the minutes wore on, it was proving ever more difficult to cling to that last shred. He wasn't the hopeful one; she was.

He'd survived everything life had thrown at him, but this? Oliver wasn't sure if he was strong enough for this.

Everybody had been around him since they heard; Digg, Lyla and baby Sara, Thea, Laurel, Donna and even Lance. But their supposed soothing and reassuring platitudes had little to no effect on him. He nodded in all the right places, forcing conversation when it was called for, but it was all so futile. There was no way he would be able to engage properly until he had news.

He must have paced the hospital several times before the nurse finally came to find him. She looked worn, but he remained cool and solid, blocking out any kind of negative thoughts that were creeping into his mind.

"Hi," he started, his voice raspy at how late – or maybe early – it was, "is she out? Is everything okay?"

"The surgery went well. As for right now, they're not sure the true extent of her injuries but she made it, Mr Queen."

She made it.

 _She made it._

Never had those three words held such weight before. Finally he felt his heart beat with purpose again, his whole sense of sense awakening.

"When can I see her?"

"Not for another little while I'm afraid. But when you do get to see her, you might want to give her this…" She reached into her pocket and pulled out his mother's ring.

No, _Felicity's_ ring.

The ring she's going to wear for the rest of her life.

Holding it in his hand, he remembered how less than a day ago she had said yes to him; that she wanted to _marry_ him. He still couldn't believe it.

Actually, he wasn't sure if he'd ever truly believe it.

"Thank you."

* * *

"There's something else we need to talk about," Felicity said quietly. Oliver knew where this was going. "The doctors…they say I'm…uh…"

He felt his heart twist for this woman that he loved so much.

"I know."

"My point being is we didn't really exchange any vows so the whole 'for better, for worse' thing doesn't really apply here," she shuddered out, the words seeming heavy.

"What are you talking about?" Oliver interjected, incredulous.

Was she really implying what he thought she was?

"That maybe the real reason you haven't been here is because-"

"Felicity," he breathed with every emotion he had within him. She had to know that he was hers and hers forever. That nothing, _nothing,_ was going to change how he felt about her. That she was all he wanted for the rest of his life – no matter what. The ring burned in his pocket and he just knew that this was the moment to put it back to where it belonged. "The nurse," he declared as he took it out and showed her, "she took this off of you in the ER. How dare she," he teased, taking her hand in his and sliding the band back onto her finger.

The way Felicity squeezed his hand once it was on stirred up all the feelings he had been bottling up during his hunt for Darhk. The woman he loved was alive and safe and that was more than enough for him now.

Gazing into her blues that were now shining with tears, he made her a promise –a promise that he was going to keep. "For better, for worse."

"Yeah," she mouthed in affirmation.

With a soft but affectionate kiss, they sealed their commitment and love for one another in the most simple yet profound way, and Oliver finally knew that his heart only every truly belonged and would only ever truly belong to one person: Felicity Smoak.

* * *

 **So what did you guys think? I'd love to know your thoughts so please drop me a review and let me know! Thanks for reading, hope you liked it! :)**


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